"She was just looking for the VCR. She was really sad, so that's when we knew it was something more than just a VCR," Hwang told ABC affiliate KOMO in Seattle.

Around 5 a.m. Monday morning, his mother and sister went to 1 Green Planet recycling center to try to retrieve the old appliance.

"She wanted to go through (on) her own, in all of the trucks, find the VCR," Michael Szanyi, the owner, told KOMO. "I promised her, 'don't worry, I will find it for you.'"

Hwang's mother didn't tell Szanyi at first what was in the VCR.

"The only thing she said was, 'It's a black and old VCR.' She was telling me she got it from her mom and it was very important for her," Szanyi said. "I have my mom in Hungary, and I thought it's going to be a good Karma."

Workers spent hours digging through the 12 tons of stuff from the high school event, which was about six "giant trucks' worth of old computers, video games and appliances."

Finally, an employee, Alberto Cordova, found the VCR at the bottom of one of the bins, KOMO reported.

On Thursday, Szanyi reunited Hwang and his mother with their VCR with the loot.